Words by Chae Hemmings
Painfully beautiful and raw, All of Us Strangers explores love, loneliness, grief & longing.
Adam, our main character, continues to process the death of his parents through his adulthood, whilst simultaneously making up for the lack of love during his childhood through his new love interest, Harry. Their intimate scenes together are exquisite; you’re fully transformed and consumed in the euphoria they share together, and despite the venue being sold out, I couldn’t help but feel like I was the only person in the audience watching. Quite surreal.
This movie is so much more than a love story though. How the feelings of loss, yearning, and loneliness is depicted is truly award-worthy. Adam finds himself regularly visiting his parents’ house to ‘meet’ his parents in a desperate act to play out the time he’s lost with them, and it was emotional to bear witness to this way of coping.
Stills from All of Us Strangers, script written and directed by Andrew Haigh based on the 1987 fiction Strangers by Taichi Yamada